Castres (Castras in the Languedocian dialect of Occitan language) is a town and commune of Languedoc in south-western France. It is the capital of an arrondissement in the département of Tarn, itself in the région of Midi-Pyrénées.
With a population of 61,760 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 1999, Castres is the third-largest industrial centre of Midi-Pyrénées (a predominantly rural région) after Toulouse and Tarbes, and the largest industrial centre in the part of Languedoc between Toulouse and Montpellier.
Castres is best known as the home of famous socialist leader Jean Jaurès, as well as for its major Goya Museum of Spanish paintings.
DemographicsPopulation in 1831 was 12,032 inhabitants, and Castres was the largest town of Tarn. As it was one of the few industrial towns in the region of Albigeois (the old name of Tarn), it grew rapidly and population of the commune proper was 19,483 in 1901, and 34,126 in 1954 (44,161 inhabitants in the metropolitan area). However, with the decline of its industries, population growth diminished. Albi surpassed Castres as the most populous metropolitan area of Tarn. The population of Castres is now stagnating: after small growth in the 1970s and 1980s, it registered zero growth in the 1990s. At the 1999 census, population in the commune proper was 43,496 inhabitants, whereas the population of the metropolitan area of Castres was 61,760.
GeographyCastres is located at an altitude of 172 meters (564 ft) above sea level. It is located 45 km (29 miles) south-southeast of Albi, the préfecture (capital) of Tarn, and 79 km (49 miles) east of Toulouse, the capital of Midi-Pyrénées. Castres is intersected from north to south by the Agout and Durenque rivers.
AdministrationCastres is the capital of an arrondissement in the Tarn département, itself in the Midi-Pyrénées région. Between 1790 and 1797 Castres was the préfecture of Tarn.
Since 2001, the mayor of Castres is Pascal Bugis (right, member of UMP), who defeated the then socialist mayor in the 2001 election, after a campaign focused on the bad records of the socialist mayor on fighting crime, and the high level of insecurity in town.
Castres has teamed up with the nearby town of Mazamet (22 km/13 miles southeast of Castres) and the independent suburbs and villages in between to create the Greater Castres-Mazamet Council (Communauté d'agglomération de Castres-Mazamet), which was born in January 2000 (succeeding a previous district which had been created in 1993 with less powers than the current council). The Greater Castres-Mazamet Council groups 16 independent communes (including Castres and Mazamet), with a total population of 79,988 inhabitants (as of 1999 census), 54% of these living in the commune of Castres proper, 13% in the commune of Mazamet, and the rest in the communes in between.
The Greater Castres-Mazamet Council was created in order to better coordinate transport, infrastructure, housing, and economic policies between the communes of the area. Current president of the Greater Castres-Mazamet Council is Jacques Limouzy (Gaullist, member of UMP), former mayor of Castres before 1995, who became president in 2001.
EconomyThe principal industries are mechanical and electrical engineering, machine tools, wooden furniture, granite, textile, fur and leather-dressing, tanning, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and selective breeding of cows.
Traditional and polluting industries such as textile, tanning, fur and leather-dressing, or chemicals, are in sharp decline. Fortunately for Castres, a multinational pharmaceutical group (Pierre Fabre Group) has emerged in Castres in the 1960s, and it has kept its headquarters and R&D division in the metropolitan area, helping to counter-balance the general decline in industry. Some now accuse its founder and president, Pierre Fabre, to be the real 'master' of Castres, making and unmaking Castres' mayors at will.
Despite this isolated success, local industry is still undergoing painful restructuring at the moment.
Famous peopleCastres is the hometown of famous socialist politician and newspaper publisher Jean Jaurès (1859-1914), who was murdered in Paris the day before the start of the First World War.
World famous mathematician Pierre de Fermat died in Castres in 1665, while attending a session of the Chambre de l'Édit there.
French writer Roger Peyrefitte was born into a wealthy family of Castres in 1907. He is best known for his book Les amitiés particulières (1944) (translated into English as Secret Friendships), in which he deals with his homosexual awakening as a young man.
French former footballer and now Lille OSC's coach Claude Puel was born in Castres as well.
List of famous people associated with CastresCastres is intersected from north to south by the Agout River. The river is fringed by old houses the upper stories of which project over its waters.
The church of Saint Benoît, once the cathedral of Castres, and the most important of the churches of Castres today, dates only from the 17th and 18th centuries. The city hall occupies the former bishop's palace, designed in the 17th century by famous architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart (the architect of Versailles), and with gardens designed by Le Nôtre (the famous designer of the gardens in Versailles). The Romanesque tower beside it (tour Saint Benoît) is the only survival of the old Benedictine abbey. The town possesses some old mansions from the 16th and 17th century, of which the Hôtel de Nayrac, of the Renaissance, is of most interest.
Castres possesses the renowned Goya Museum, created in 1840, which contains the largest collection of Spanish paintings in France: 28,000 visitors every year. A Jaurès Museum was also opened in 1954 in the house where Jean Jaurès was born in 1859: 10,000 visitors every year.
SportsQuite normally, as it is a town of West Occitania nicknamed Ovalie for the religion status of this sport there, rugby (Rugby Union) is the main sport in Castres. The local team is Castres Olympique, which was three times champion of France (in 1949, 1950, and 1993). Castres Olympique is the property of local tycoon Pierre Fabre, founder and president of Pierre Fabre Group.
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